On-premises agent for mobile cloud service

ABSTRACT

Systems, devices, and methods are disclosed for an agent device within a company&#39;s network firewall to initiate an HTTP connection with a cloud-based gateway and then upgrade the connection to a WebSockets protocol in order to have an interactive session. Over this interactive session, a mobile device, which connects to the cloud-based intermediary, can request data from servers inside the company&#39;s firewalls. Because the firewall is traversed using HTTP protocols (with WebSockets), it can be as safe as letting employees browse the web from inside the company&#39;s network.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. National Stage of International ApplicationNo. PCT/RU2014/000677, filed Sep. 10, 2014, which claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/937,316, filed Feb. 7, 2014,the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentireties for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

A company's enterprise applications running on the company's servers aretypically accessed by employees' work computers. The work computers aremaintained by company information technology (IT) departments, andconfigurations are tightly controlled. The work computers, such aslaptop computers or desktop workstations, plug into office network jacksor log into encrypted wireless networking hubs. All of the devices,computers and servers, are protected from the Internet by one or morefirewalls.

Users are demanding more and more access to company data while on theroad, at home, or at other areas outside of companies' offices. Forexample, salespeople for a company sometimes wish to access contactlists and other well-guarded proprietary data from the company's serverswhile they are travelling. IT departments have evolved to issuingcompany-owned mobile devices that they maintain. These include not onlythe laptop computers that they have supported for some time, but alsonetbooks and smart phones.

Due to the declining price of consumer electronics in general, usersoften purchase newer smartphones and computers than those provided bytheir companies. As a result, the users' personal electronic devices areoften more powerful than those provided by the companies' ITdepartments. With greater processing power, memory and bandwidthavailable on their own devices than those issued by their companies,some users opt to use their own devices for many company functions thatwould otherwise be performed on company-issued devices.

Chief information officers (CIOs) may balk at having his or heremployee's own personal, BYOD (bring your own device) mobile electronicdevices accessing company servers. The threat of a security breach froma user's, malware-infected mobile device is just too great. Yet, thelure of not having to purchase or maintain another user device—one whichthe user wants to use anyway—is promising.

There is a need in the art for safe access to data on a company'senterprise application servers using employees' own mobile devices.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Generally, an agent device within a company's firewall and connectedinternally to company servers is described that also safely connects toan external, cloud-based gateway with which mobile devices connect. Theinternally controlled agent initiates communications using hypertexttransport protocol (HTTP) with the external, cloud-based gateway andthen upgrades the connection to a WebSockets protocol for moreinteractive functionality.

The agent can automatically update its own software from the cloud-basedgateway depending on the time of day and other settings. For example,there may be a time window in which no updates may occur. Also, if anupdate occurs and is unsuccessful, it can be rolled back to a previousversion.

Some embodiments of the invention are related to a method offacilitating offsite access to an enterprise computer network. Themethod includes initiating, from an agent executing on a computer behinda firewall on an enterprise network, a hypertext transport protocol(HTTP) connection with a cloud-based gateway outside of the firewall,upgrading the HTTP connection to a WebSocket protocol connection,receiving, at the agent over the WebSocket protocol connection, arequest for data from the gateway, reformatting, at the agent, therequest into an HTTP request, sending, from the agent, the HTTP requestto a server on the enterprise network, receiving, at the agent, aresponse to the HTTP request from the server, creating, at the agent, aWebSocket response based on the response from the server, and sending,from the agent over the WebSocket protocol connection to the gateway,the WebSocket response.

The upgrading of the HTTP connection to the WebSocket protocolconnection can be automatically triggered by the initiating of the HTTPconnection. The method can include receiving, at the cloud-basedgateway, a request from a mobile device, reformatting, at the gateway,the request from the mobile device into the request for data over theWebSocket protocol, receiving, at the gateway, the WebSocket responsefrom the agent, creating, at the gateway, a cloud-enabled response fromthe WebSocket response from the agent, and sending the cloud-enabledresponse to the mobile device.

The method can include packaging, by the agent, the response from theserver into a string, binary object, or ArrayBuffer of the WebSocketresponse before sending the WebSocket response. The server can be alocal web server, and/or the server can be running an enterpriseapplication. The WebSocket connection can be a secure WebSocketconnection.

The method can include checking, by the agent with the cloud-basedgateway, for an update of agent software, downloading, to the agent, asoftware update, and installing, at the agent, the downloaded softwareupdate. The method can further include determining a time windowacceptable or unacceptable for the software update, and performing thechecking, downloading, or installing based on the determined timewindow. The method can include rolling back the installation of thedownloaded software update to a version of the agent software.

Yet other embodiments relate to systems and machine-readable tangiblestorage media that employ or store instructions for the methodsdescribed above.

This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features ofthe claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolationto determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject mattershould be understood by reference to appropriate portions of the entirespecification of this patent, any or all drawings and each claim.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates component models in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates integration services as a component of mobile cloudservices in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates an aggregation service in an on-premises environmentin accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an example flowchart illustrating a process in accordance withan embodiment.

FIG. 6 depicts a simplified diagram of a distributed system forimplementing one of the embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a simplified block diagram of components of a systemenvironment by which services provided by the components of anembodiment system may be offered as cloud services, in accordance withan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary computer system, in which variousembodiments of the present invention may be implemented.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an agent in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an example flowchart illustrating a process in a cloud-basedgateway in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a cloud-based gateway in accordance withan embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In general, embodiments are related to an agent server that is behind acompany's firewall initiates a connection with a gateway server in atrusted cloud via the HTTP protocol (typically port 80, but can be anyport range) and then upgrades the connection to the WebSocket protocol.Using the established, two-way WebSocket connection, communicationbetween a mobile device that is outside of the company's firewall isfacilitated with the company's server.

The “WebSocket protocol” is standardized by the Internet EngineeringTask Force (IETF) as (Request For Comments) RFC 6455, or as otherwiseknown in the art.

Technical advantages of using the WebSocket protocol, as opposed toother protocols, are its similarity to HTTP, which allows WebSocketpackets to pass through corporate network firewalls without furtherconfiguration of firewalls, the network, etc. If a chief technologyofficer allows his or her employees to access the Web from the corporatenetwork computers (using the ubiquitous HTTP protocol), then there isnot much of a leap to use WebSockets for allowing communication. Afterall, limiting traffic to that which is similar to HTTP does not allowhackers to easily take over full, administrative control of protectednetwork servers. The WebSocket protocol is used in centralized,massively multiplayer online (MMO) gaming, where it is reliable andsecure. It allows near real-time communication between computers, so itis well suited for the video gaming industry. Near real-timecommunication may not be necessary for corporate networks, but thesecurity that WebSockets presents, denying many traditional hackingavenues around firewalls, is advantageous for corporate networks.

General Use Cases

Enterprise applications accessed from a cloud can include OracleSoftware as a Service (SaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) assets,such as Oracle Fusion Customer Resource Management (CRM) with customextensions, RightNow, Taleo, and SaaS Human Capital Management (HCM).SaaS HCM can include a company directory, worker portrait, approvals,recruiting, resume screening, goals, and candidate screening.

Company on-premises assets can include server applications running aplurality of vendors' applications. Some assets can include the OracleE-Business Suite, including service orders, transportation, AgileProduct Lifecycle Management (PLM), request status, and orders. SiebelCRM includes pharma sales life sciences, pharma sales rep,opportunities, service orders service request status, retail executionconsumer goods, TPM consumer goods, contacts, and field service.PeopleSoft applications can include those for expenses, requisitions,approval, and a company directory. JD Edwards applications can includethose for expenses, requisitions, and purchase order (PO) approval.

Third-party SaaS assets can include those from salesforce.com, AmazonHosted Services, such as EC2 (compute), S3 (storage), SimpleNotification Service (SNS), and Beanstalk, Google, such asAppEngine/Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, maps (directions, distancematrix, elevation, geocoding, time zone, places), apps (calendar, tasks,gmail, contacts, drive, spreadsheets, sites), Google+, and commerce(shopping, payment, and wallet), and NEST. Mobile-only or mobile-firstassets can be created for data storage, including relational, file/LOB,and NoSQL/unstructured, and for application user profile information.

Connectivity Use Cases

A mobile cloud service can invoke an on-premises SOAP/XML (WSDL)service. For example, the mobile cloud service can expose on-premisesE-Business Suite Order Entry functionality to a mobile client. A mobileclient can use JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) to interact with amobile application programming interface (mAPI) exposed by the mobilecloud service, which does data translation before connecting on-premise.

A mobile cloud service can invoke an on-premises Representational StateTransfer (REST) (JSON/XML) service. For example, an employeeself-service application can be REST-enabled using an SOA architecture.The application can be by employees when connected to the company'sintranet. A mobile client can use JSON to interact with the mAPI exposedby the Mobile Cloud Service, which composes multiple REST calls toprovide a single-page UI (user interface) for the mobile client.

Event (XML, etc.) propagation can be facilitated from an on-premisesapplication to the mobile cloud service. For example, an internalrecruitment portal can be available to employees when connected to theintranet. When an employee applies for a job, a notification may be sentto a hiring manager's mobile device (with basic information about theapplicant's experience). The applicant event is propagated fromon-premises recruitment application to the mobile cloud service, whichnotifies the manager's mobile client application (for example, afterperforming XML to JSON translation).

Event (defined by Extensible markup Language (XML), etc.) propagationcan be facilitated from a cloud to an on-premises application (inaddition to mobile clients). For example, a lead created in an Oraclesales cloud may be synchronized (asynchronously) with an on-premisesSiebel CRM (Customer Relationship Management) for campaign management.In addition, the lead can also be pushed to mobile devices of salesrepresentatives in the territory (based on subscriptions).

Moving files (e.g., documents, images) from a mobile cloud service to anon-premises application can be facilitated. For example, bills scannedon the mobile client and attached to the expense report mobileapplication may be stored on premises so that a third-party provider canvalidate the bill files using an existing on-premises web-basedapplication. Earlier expense reports could be submitted using aweb-based application that is only available when connected to theintranet. It can also be modeled from mobile client to a Mobile CloudService (MCS) as JSON with attachments. In this case, the mobile cloudservice can store attachments as files using a cloud-based storageservice and then move the files from the cloud to an on-premises storageserver.

Other connectivity use cases include moving files from on-premisesapplications to a mobile cloud service, moving batches of files from themobile cloud service to on-premises applications, and moving batches offiles from an on-premises application to a mobile cloud service.

Execution Flow Examples

In an example, an application in the cloud can call a REST WebServicefrom an on-premises environment. The client from the cloud calls a RESTservice from a gateway, e.g.:

-   -   http://mygateway.oraclecloud.com/mypremise_com/service_name        The call is transferred to on-premises, and an agent calls the        real service, e.g.:    -   http://mypremise.com/service_name

The agent handles the response and transfers the response to the cloud.The gateway provides the client with the response. These steps providetransparency of invocation for both the service and the client.

In another example, an event is generated in the cloud and is propagatedto an on-premises environment. The on-premises service calls:

-   -   http://mypremise.com/event_handler        which is expected to be invoked in case of the event. The        gateway representation    -   http://mygateway.oraclecloud.com/mypremise_com/event_handler        of this service is registered in the cloud app as an event        handler. When an event occurs, the service:    -   http://mygateway.oraclecloud.com/mypremise_com/event_handler        is invoked.

In yet another example, an event is generated in an on-premisesenvironment and is propagated to the cloud. Assuming that the event isprocessed by:

-   -   http://oraclecloud.com/event_from_enterprise_handler        The application on premises calls:    -   http://myagent.mypremise.com/oraclecloud_com/event_from_enterprise_handler        This call is transferred to the cloud, and the gateway calls the        real service:    -   http://oraclecloud.com/event_from_enterprise_handler

In another example, a large amount of data is to be transferred from thecloud to an on-premises system. Assuming that the data is processed by:

-   -   http://mypremise.com/upload_service        The steps are the same as in the first example noted above        except that HTTP POST is used for the file upload.

Another example is for data to be streamed from on-premises to thecloud. The client from the cloud calls a service from the gateway, e.g.:

-   -   http://mygateway.oraclecloud.com/mypremise_com/media_streaming        This call is transferred on-premises (through the WebSockets        protocol) and the agent calls the real service:    -   http://mypremise.com/media_streaming        The agent handles the response and transfers it to the cloud.        The gateway provides the client with the response. Any streaming        protocol that works inside of HTTP may function well.

Mobile Cloud Service (MCS)

The term “connectivity” denotes here a low-level, base part ofintegration, or as otherwise known in the art. It can be a simple bridgebetween cloud and on-premises environments, it can be synchronous inboth directions (e.g., cloud to on-premises and vice versa), transactionpropagation or compensation actions, protocol translation, datatransformation, service orchestration/aggregation, and messagesequencing/parallelization may not all be a part of connectivity.

FIG. 1 illustrates component models in accordance with an embodiment. Insystem 100, a cloud-based system 102 is connected through Internet 104with on-premises system 106 using HTTP.

Gateway 108 is available as a cloud service, while agent 110, which is adeployment node, is available for on-premises deployment as a software,virtual, or hardware appliance.

Agent 110 to gateway 108 deployment relations can be characterized asmany-to-many. One cloud-based gateway instance may accept connectionsfrom several agent instances (in parallel). One agent instance mayconnect to several gateway instances (in parallel).

Agent-to-service and gateway to service protocol stacks may be symmetric(not necessarily equal because they have the same top-level protocol).In some designs, all enterprise services can be exposed as web services.The cloud may limit any external communication to HTTP(S) (i.e., secureHTTP).

An agent-to-gateway communication protocol limits the agent to workthrough web-proxies, both explicit and transparent. A communicationchannel from the agent to the gateway goes through a public network(e.g., Internet 104) and therefore should be protected. Contentprotection on top of the pure HTTP is possible but may have noadvantages in comparison with industry-standard HTTPS.

WebSocket is a suitable protocol for use between the data and HTTPprotocol. Comet may also work, such as “long-polling” and “httpstreaming.”

In the figure, transfer-channel listener is a client module, thatestablished a connection with gateway 108 and performs data interactionover this bidirectional transfer channel in asynchronous mode.

HTTP-listener 116 listens for inbound HTTP-requests from enterprisesystems and sends the HTTP-requests to gateway 108. It synchronouslyreturns given responses.

HTTP-translator 118 receives HTTP-requests from the gateway and forwardsthe HTTP-requests to enterprise services. It synchronously returns givenresponses to the gateway.

Synchronization module 120 performs synchronization logic on top of datapackets queuing. It provides synchronous (request/response) API forHTTP-translator and asynchronous API (send/receive) for thetransfer-channel client.

Lifecycle-manager 122 performs self-maintenance, monitoring and remotemanagement tasks and is responsible for agent features likezero-downtime, zero maintenance cost and other.

Access control 124 and 126 are local policy storage and appliances forcloud-to-service access control.

In gateway 108, transfer-channel listener 114 listens for inboundconnections from agent 110 and performs data interaction over thisbidirectional transfer channel in asynchronous mode.

HTTP-listener 130 listens for inbound HTTP-requests from cloud systemsand sends the HTTP-requests to agent 110. It synchronously returns givenresponses.

HTTP-translator 124 receives HTTP-requests from Agent and forwards theHTTP requests to cloud services 102. It synchronously returns givenresponses to the agent.

Synchronization module 120 performs synchronization logic on top of datapackets queuing. It provides synchronous (request/response) API forHTTP-translator and asynchronous API (send/receive) for thetransfer-channel listener.

Access control 126 is a remote policy storage and appliance forcloud-to-service and enterprise-to-service access control.

Configuration manager 128 is a cloud storage and management interface(API or UI or both) for connectivity administration.

FIG. 2 illustrates integration services as a component of mobile cloudservices in accordance with an embodiment. In system 200, mobile cloudservice 202 is in the cloud, behind a firewall, and it can act as aninterface between mobile device 224 and on premises legacy system 216.

Mobile device 224 communicates through mAPI (mobile ApplicationProgramming Interface) 208, which forwards its messages to supportingservices 204. Supporting services 204 send the messages to integrationservices 206, which includes connectors 210. Connectors 210 couple withgateway 212.

Mobile cloud service 202 reformats, at gateway 212, requests from mobiledevice 224 into a WebSocket protocol-compliant message. Gateway 212receives WebSocket protocol compliant responses from the on-premisesenterprise network and creates a cloud-enabled response from theresponses to send to the mobile device.

At the on-premises geographic location of the legacy system, agent 222may be executing on a computer behind a firewall to public network 214.Agent 222 receives a request for data from gateway 212, reformats therequest into an HTTP request for legacy system 216, and uses service1218 to supply a response to the request. Once a response from theservice is received at agent 222, agent 222 creates a WebSocketprotocol-compliant response with information provided by the service tosend back to gateway 212. Gateway 212 can then re-translate the datainto an HTTP format in order to send the data back to mobile device 224.Service2 220 can also be used in conjunction, or separately, fromservice1 218.

FIG. 3 illustrates an aggregation service in an on-premises environmentin accordance with an embodiment. The figure includes on-premisesaggregation service 326, through which agent 222 communicates withservice1 218 and service2 220 of legacy system 216.

A proposed approach is to “catch” HTTP packets (requests and responses),transfer the HTTP packets (requests and responses) to the other side andto forward the HTTP packets (requests and responses) with limited andwell-defined set of modifications:

-   -   Request URL (uniform resource locator)—depending on chosen data        routing configuration design, some parts of the URL might be        rewritten (host/port parts or request path or both). URL        rewriting should be a primary mechanism of translating requests:        -   HTTP-request to Gateway to HTTP-request to Enterprise            service.        -   HTTP-request to Agent to HTTP-request to Cloud service.    -   Request/response headers—should be transferred and forwarded        unchanged.    -   Request/response body—should be transferred and forwarded        unchanged.    -   Request credentials—for each of the core HTTP (primarily Basic        access authentication) and related (like OAuth) authentication        methods.

As a data transfer container, the most performance-efficient format canbe freely chosen (XML, JSON, BSON (binary JSON), etc.) if it isacceptable by a finally chosen agent-to-gateway communication technology(some of the known alternatives have known limitations, i.e. XML-onlydata transfer).

Using with Service Orchestration Solutions

Transaction propagation or compensation actions, protocol translation,data transformation, service orchestration/aggregation, messagessequencing/parallelization all are not a part of the connectivity, butthey can be achieved by combining a provided solution with specificsolutions. Those solutions can be deployed both in cloud and onpremises.

System Start Up Example

1. When the Agent in on-premise system goes up it connects to theGateway using HTTP/HTTPS proxy and establishes WebSocket connectionbetween Agent and Gateway. This connection is going to be used totransfer data in both directions.

2. Agent downloads its own configuration from the Gateway, includingfilters, access control lists, and update availability.

3. After the startup Gateway listens for incoming HTTP calls in thecloud and Agent listens for incoming http calls in on-premisesenvironment.

Application in the cloud calls REST WebService from on-premiseenvironment.

1. Client (C) does http call to the Gateway, endpoint Gateway_E1

2. Listener receives the request to address Gateway_E1

3. HTTP translator translate the address to E1 and prepares the address,header and body to be transferred over transport channel.

4. Synchronization module assigns unique ID to the request, putsoriginal thread on hold and adds the request to the outgoing queue

5. From the queue the request is transferred to Agent

6. On the Agent side the request is reconstructed address, headers andbody to be a valid HTTP request

7. An outgoing call is made to the endpoint E1

8. Once response is received it is transferred to the Gateway

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram in accordance with an embodiment. Inprocess 400, a connection between a cloud-based gateway and anon-premises agent is demonstrated.

Agent 404 initiates an HTTP connection 408 with gateway 403, and gateway403 responds with a server connection 409. An “HTTP connection” caninclude a secure HTTPS connection. Agent 404 then requests 410 anupgrade for the connection to a WebSocket protocol, and gatewayvalidates the upgrade in connection 411.

A User Datagram Protocol (UDP) message, called a datagram, can be usedwith the HTTP connection to send information back and forth betweengateway 403, which is in the cloud, and agent 404, which is behind afirewall in the enterprise network.

Agent 404 can be a standalone Java application that requires minimalmaintenance. The agent can check for an update of its own software,download it, and install it as a software update.

Agent 404 can look up or otherwise determine an acceptable (orunacceptable) period of time for updating its own software. For example,2:00 am on a Sunday morning may be an acceptable time when there are theleast number of users on the system. As another example, the agent maydetermine a usage pattern of loading on the agent and choose a time thatthere is a dip or minima in usage in order to seek a software update.

If there is a problem with installing the update, then the agent mayroll back the installation of the downloaded software update to aprevious (or later) version of the software. For example, if immediatelyafter a software update the agent cannot connect with the cloud-basedgateway 403, then the software update can be rolled back.

Sometime after initialization, a mobile device 401 sends a request 412for data to mAPI 402 of cloud-based system 406. The request is forwardedto gateway 403, which reformats the request.

The reformatted request 414 is sent from gateway 403 to agent 404 thatis on premises at company's location 407. Agent 404 translates theWebSockets format to an HTTP request and then sends the HTTP request 415to legacy server 405, which runs an enterprise application.

Legacy server 405 sends an HTTP response 416 to agent 404, whichreformats it for WebSockets. Reformatted response 417 is sent from theagent to gateway 403, which translates it to the format of the originalrequest. Response 418 is sent from gateway 403 to mAPI, which sends itas response 419 to mobile device 401.

FIG. 5 is an example flowchart illustrating a process in accordance withone embodiment. This process can be automated in a computer or othermachine. The process can be coded in software, firmware, or hard codedas machine-readable instructions and run through a processor that canimplement the instructions. In operation 501, a hypertext transportprotocol (HTTP) connection is initiated from an agent executing on acomputer behind a firewall on an enterprise network with a cloud-basedgateway outside of the firewall. In operation 502, the HTTP connectionis upgraded to a WebSocket protocol connection. In operation 503, arequest for data from the gateway is received at the agent over theWebSocket protocol connection. In operation 504, the request isreformatted, at the agent, into an HTTP request. In operation 505, theHTTP request is sent from the agent to a server on the enterprisenetwork. In operation 506, a response to the HTTP request is receivedfrom the server at the agent. In operation 507, a WebSocket response iscreated at the agent based on the response from the server. In operation508, the WebSocket response is sent from the agent over the WebSocketprotocol connection to the gateway.

FIG. 6 depicts a simplified diagram of a distributed system 600 forimplementing one of the embodiments. In the illustrated embodiment,distributed system 600 includes one or more client computing devices602, 604, 606, and 608, which are configured to execute and operate aclient application such as a web browser, proprietary client (e.g.,Oracle Forms), or the like over one or more network(s) 610. Server 612may be communicatively coupled with remote client computing devices 602,604, 606, and 608 via network 610.

In various embodiments, server 612 may be adapted to run one or moreservices or software applications provided by one or more of thecomponents of the system. The services or software applications caninclude nonvirtual and virtual environments. Virtual environments caninclude those used for virtual events, tradeshows, simulators,classrooms, shopping exchanges, and enterprises, whether two- orthree-dimensional (3D) representations, page-based logical environments,or otherwise. In some embodiments, these services may be offered asweb-based or cloud services or under a Software as a Service (SaaS)model to the users of client computing devices 602, 604, 606, and/or608. Users operating client computing devices 602, 604, 606, and/or 608may in turn utilize one or more client applications to interact withserver 612 to utilize the services provided by these components.

In the configuration depicted in the figure, the software components618, 620 and 622 of system 600 are shown as being implemented on server612. In other embodiments, one or more of the components of system 600and/or the services provided by these components may also be implementedby one or more of the client computing devices 602, 604, 606, and/or608. Users operating the client computing devices may then utilize oneor more client applications to use the services provided by thesecomponents. These components may be implemented in hardware, firmware,software, or combinations thereof. It should be appreciated that variousdifferent system configurations are possible, which may be differentfrom distributed system 600. The embodiment shown in the figure is thusone example of a distributed system for implementing an embodimentsystem and is not intended to be limiting.

Client computing devices 602, 604, 606, and/or 608 may be portablehandheld devices (e.g., an iPhone®, cellular telephone, an iPad®,computing tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA)) or wearabledevices (e.g., a Google Glass® head mounted display), running softwaresuch as Microsoft Windows Mobile®, and/or a variety of mobile operatingsystems such as iOS, Windows Phone, Android, BlackBerry 10, Palm OS, andthe like, and being Internet, e-mail, short message service (SMS),Blackberry®, or other communication protocol enabled. The clientcomputing devices can be general purpose personal computers including,by way of example, personal computers and/or laptop computers runningvarious versions of Microsoft Windows®, Apple Macintosh®, and/or Linuxoperating systems. The client computing devices can be workstationcomputers miming any of a variety of commercially-available UNIX® orUNIX-like operating systems, including without limitation the variety ofGNU/Linux operating systems, such as for example, Google Chrome OS.Alternatively, or in addition, client computing devices 602, 604, 606,and 608 may be any other electronic device, such as a thin-clientcomputer, an Internet-enabled gaming system (e.g., a Microsoft Xboxgaming console with or without a Kinect® gesture input device), and/or apersonal messaging device, capable of communicating over network(s) 610.

Although exemplary distributed system 600 is shown with four clientcomputing devices, any number of client computing devices may besupported. Other devices, such as devices with sensors, etc., mayinteract with server 612.

Network(s) 610 in distributed system 600 may be any type of networkfamiliar to those skilled in the art that can support datacommunications using any of a variety of commercially-availableprotocols, including without limitation TCP/IP (transmission controlprotocol/Internet protocol), SNA (systems network architecture), IPX(Internet packet exchange), AppleTalk, and the like. Merely by way ofexample, network(s) 610 can be a local area network (LAN), such as onebased on Ethernet, Token-Ring and/or the like. Network(s) 610 can be awide-area network and the Internet. It can include a virtual network,including without limitation a virtual private network (VPN), anintranet, an extranet, a public switched telephone network (PSTN), aninfra-red network, a wireless network (e.g., a network operating underany of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics (IEEE) 802.11 suiteof protocols, Bluetooth®, and/or any other wireless protocol); and/orany combination of these and/or other networks.

Server 612 may be composed of one or more general purpose computers,specialized server computers (including, by way of example, PC (personalcomputer) servers, UNIX® servers, mid-range servers, mainframecomputers, rack-mounted servers, etc.), server farms, server clusters,or any other appropriate arrangement and/or combination. Server 612 caninclude one or more virtual machines running virtual operating systems,or other computing architectures involving virtualization. One or moreflexible pools of logical storage devices can be virtualized to maintainvirtual storage devices for the server. Virtual networks can becontrolled by server 612 using software defined networking. In variousembodiments, server 612 may be adapted to run one or more services orsoftware applications described in the foregoing disclosure. Forexample, server 612 may correspond to a server for performing processingdescribed above according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Server 612 may run an operating system including any of those discussedabove, as well as any commercially available server operating system.Server 612 may also run any of a variety of additional serverapplications and/or mid-tier applications, including HTTP (hypertexttransport protocol) servers, FTP (file transfer protocol) servers, CGI(common gateway interface) servers, JAVA® servers, database servers, andthe like. Exemplary database servers include without limitation thosecommercially available from. Oracle, Microsoft, Sybase, IBM(International Business Machines), and the like.

In some implementations, server 612 may include one or more applicationsto analyze and consolidate data feeds and/or event updates received fromusers of client computing devices 602, 604, 606, and 608. As an example,data feeds and/or event updates may include, but are not limited to,Twitter® feeds, Facebook® updates or real-time updates received from oneor more third party information sources and continuous data streams,which may include real-time events related to sensor data applications,financial tickers, network performance measuring tools (e.g., networkmonitoring and traffic management applications), clickstream analysistools, automobile traffic monitoring, and the like. Server 612 may alsoinclude one or more applications to display the data feeds and/orreal-time events via one or more display devices of client computingdevices 602, 604, 606, and 608.

Distributed system 600 may also include one or more databases 614 and616. Databases 614 and 616 may reside in a variety of locations. By wayof example, one or more of databases 614 and 616 may reside on anon-transitory storage medium local to (and/or resident in) server 612.Alternatively, databases 614 and 616 may be remote from server 612 andin communication with server 612 via a network-based or dedicatedconnection. In one set of embodiments, databases 614 and 616 may residein a storage-area network (SAN). Similarly, any necessary files forperforming the functions attributed to server 612 may be stored locallyon server 612 and/or remotely, as appropriate. In one set ofembodiments, databases 614 and 616 may include relational databases,such as databases provided by Oracle, that are adapted to store, update,and retrieve data in response to SQL-formatted commands.

FIG. 7 is a simplified block diagram of one or more components of asystem environment 700 by which services provided by one or morecomponents of an embodiment system may be offered as cloud services, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In theillustrated embodiment, system environment 700 includes one or moreclient computing devices 704, 706, and 708 that may be used by users tointeract with a cloud infrastructure system 702 that provides cloudservices. The client computing devices may be configured to operate aclient application such as a web browser, a proprietary clientapplication (e.g., Oracle Forms), or some other application, which maybe used by a user of the client computing device to interact with cloudinfrastructure system 702 to use services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 702.

It should be appreciated that cloud infrastructure system 702 depictedin the figure may have other components than those depicted. Further,the embodiment shown in the figure is only one example of a cloudinfrastructure system that may incorporate an embodiment of theinvention. In some other embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 702may have more or fewer components than shown in the figure, may combinetwo or more components, or may have a different configuration orarrangement of components.

Client computing devices 704, 706, and 708 may be devices similar tothose described above for 602, 604, 606, and 608.

Although exemplary system environment 700 is shown with three clientcomputing devices, any number of client computing devices may besupported. Other devices such as devices with sensors, etc. may interactwith cloud infrastructure system 702.

Network(s) 710 may facilitate communications and exchange of databetween clients 704, 706, and 708 and cloud infrastructure system 702.Each network may be any type of network familiar to those skilled in theart that can support data communications using any of a variety ofcommercially-available protocols, including those described above fornetwork(s) 610.

Cloud infrastructure system 702 may comprise one or more computersand/or servers that may include those described above for server 612.

In certain embodiments, services provided by the cloud infrastructuresystem may include a host of services that are made available to usersof the cloud infrastructure system on demand, such as online datastorage and backup solutions, Web-based e-mail services, hosted officesuites and document collaboration services, database processing, managedtechnical support services, and the like. Services provided by the cloudinfrastructure system can dynamically scale to meet the needs of itsusers. A specific instantiation of a service provided by cloudinfrastructure system is referred to herein as a “service instance.” Ingeneral, any service made available to a user via a communicationnetwork, such as the Internet, from a cloud service provider's system isreferred to as a “cloud service.” Typically, in a public cloudenvironment, servers and systems that make up the cloud serviceprovider's system are different from the customer's own on-premisesservers and systems. For example, a cloud service provider's system mayhost an application, and a user may, via a communication network such asthe Internet, on demand, order and use the application.

In some examples, a service in a computer network cloud infrastructuremay include protected computer network access to storage, a hosteddatabase, a hosted web server, a software application, or other serviceprovided by a cloud vendor to a user, or as otherwise known in the art.For example, a service can include password-protected access to remotestorage on the cloud through the Internet. As another example, a servicecan include a web service-based hosted relational database and ascript-language middleware engine for private use by a networkeddeveloper. As another example, a service can include access to an emailsoftware application hosted on a cloud vendor's web site.

In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 702 may include asuite of applications, middleware, and database service offerings thatare delivered to a customer in a self-service, subscription-based,elastically scalable, reliable, highly available, and secure manner. Anexample of such a cloud infrastructure system is the Oracle Public Cloudprovided by the present assignee.

‘Big data’ can be hosted and/or manipulated by the infrastructure systemon many levels and at different scales. Extremely large data sets can bestored and manipulated by analysts and researchers to visualize largeamounts of data, detect trends, and/or otherwise interact with the data.Tens, hundreds, or thousands of processors linked in parallel can actupon such data in order to present it or simulate external forces on thedata or what it represents. These data sets can involve structured data,such as that organized in a database or otherwise according to astructured model, and/or unstructured data (e.g., emails, images, datablobs (binary large objects), web pages, complex event processing). Byleveraging an ability of an embodiment to relatively quickly focus more(or fewer) computing resources upon an objective, the cloudinfrastructure system may be better available to carry out tasks onlarge data sets based on demand from a business, government agency,research organization, private individual, group of like-mindedindividuals or organizations, or other entity.

In various embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 702 may be adaptedto automatically provision, manage and track a customer's subscriptionto services offered by cloud infrastructure system 702. Cloudinfrastructure system 702 may provide the cloud services via differentdeployment models. For example, services may be provided under a publiccloud model in which cloud infrastructure system 702 is owned by anorganization selling cloud services (e.g., owned by Oracle) and theservices are made available to the general public or different industryenterprises. As another example, services may be provided under aprivate cloud model in which cloud infrastructure system 702 is operatedsolely for a single organization and may provide services for one ormore entities within the organization. The cloud services may also beprovided under a community cloud model in which cloud infrastructuresystem 702 and the services provided by cloud infrastructure system 702are shared by several organizations in a related community. The cloudservices may also be provided under a hybrid cloud model, which is acombination of two or more different models.

In some embodiments, the services provided by cloud infrastructuresystem 702 may include one or more services provided under Software as aService (SaaS) category, Platform as a Service (PaaS) category,Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) category, or other categories ofservices including hybrid services. A customer, via a subscriptionorder, may order one or more services provided by cloud infrastructuresystem 702. Cloud infrastructure system 702 then performs processing toprovide the services in the customer's subscription order.

In some embodiments, the services provided by cloud infrastructuresystem 702 may include, without limitation, application services,platform services and infrastructure services. In some examples,application services may be provided by the cloud infrastructure systemvia a SaaS platform. The SaaS platform may be configured to providecloud services that fall under the SaaS category. For example, the SaaSplatform may provide capabilities to build and deliver a suite ofon-demand applications on an integrated development and deploymentplatform. The SaaS platform may manage and control the underlyingsoftware and infrastructure for providing the SaaS services. Byutilizing the services provided by the SaaS platform, customers canutilize applications executing on the cloud infrastructure system.Customers can acquire the application services without the need forcustomers to purchase separate licenses and support. Various differentSaaS services may be provided. Examples include, without limitation,services that provide solutions for sales performance management,enterprise integration, and business flexibility for largeorganizations.

In some embodiments, platform services may be provided by the cloudinfrastructure system via a PaaS platform. The PaaS platform may beconfigured to provide cloud services that fall under the PaaS category.Examples of platform services may include without limitation servicesthat enable organizations (such as Oracle) to consolidate existingapplications on a shared, common architecture, as well as the ability tobuild new applications that leverage the shared services provided by theplatform. The PaaS platform may manage and control the underlyingsoftware and infrastructure for providing the PaaS services. Customerscan acquire the PaaS services provided by the cloud infrastructuresystem without the need for customers to purchase separate licenses andsupport. Examples of platform services include, without limitation,Oracle Java Cloud Service (JCS), Oracle Database Cloud Service (DBCS),and others.

By utilizing the services provided by the PaaS platform, customers canemploy programming languages and tools supported by the cloudinfrastructure system and also control the deployed services. In someembodiments, platform services provided by the cloud infrastructuresystem may include database cloud services, middleware cloud services(e.g., Oracle Fusion Middleware services), and Java cloud services. Inone embodiment, database cloud services may support shared servicedeployment models that enable organizations to pool database resourcesand offer customers a Database as a Service in the form of a databasecloud. Middleware cloud services may provide a platform for customers todevelop and deploy various business applications, and Java cloudservices may provide a platform for customers to deploy Javaapplications, in the cloud infrastructure system.

Various different infrastructure services may be provided by an IaaSplatform in the cloud infrastructure system. The infrastructure servicesfacilitate the management and control of the underlying computingresources, such as storage, networks, and other fundamental computingresources for customers utilizing services provided by the SaaS platformand the PaaS platform.

In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 702 may also includeinfrastructure resources 730 for providing the resources used to providevarious services to customers of the cloud infrastructure system. In oneembodiment, infrastructure resources 730 may include pre-integrated andoptimized combinations of hardware, such as servers, storage, andnetworking resources to execute the services provided by the PaaSplatform and the SaaS platform.

In some embodiments, resources in cloud infrastructure system 702 may beshared by multiple users and dynamically re-allocated per demand.Additionally, resources may be allocated to users in different timezones. For example, cloud infrastructure system 730 may enable a firstset of users in a first time zone to utilize resources of the cloudinfrastructure system for a specified number of hours and then enablethe re-allocation of the same resources to another set of users locatedin a different time zone, thereby maximizing the utilization ofresources.

In certain embodiments, a number of internal shared services 732 may beprovided that are shared by different components or modules of cloudinfrastructure system 702 and by the services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 702. These internal shared services may include,without limitation, a security and identity service, an integrationservice, an enterprise repository service, an enterprise managerservice, a virus scanning and white list service, a high availability,backup and recovery service, service for enabling cloud support, anemail service, a notification service, a file transfer service, and thelike.

In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 702 may providecomprehensive management of cloud services (e.g., SaaS, PaaS, and IaaSservices) in the cloud infrastructure system. In one embodiment, cloudmanagement functionality may include capabilities for provisioning,managing and tracking a customer's subscription received by cloudinfrastructure system 702, and the like.

In one embodiment, as depicted in the figure, cloud managementfunctionality may be provided by one or more modules, such as an ordermanagement module 720, an order orchestration module 722, an orderprovisioning module 724, an order management and monitoring module 726,and an identity management module 728. These modules may include or beprovided using one or more computers and/or servers, which may begeneral purpose computers, specialized server computers, server farms,server clusters, or any other appropriate arrangement and/orcombination.

In exemplary operation 734, a customer using a client device, such asclient device 704, 706 or 708, may interact with cloud infrastructuresystem 702 by requesting one or more services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 702 and placing an order for a subscription forone or more services offered by cloud infrastructure system 702. Incertain embodiments, the customer may access a cloud User Interface(UI), cloud UI 712, cloud UI 714 and/or cloud UI 716 and place asubscription order via these UIs. The order information received bycloud infrastructure system 702 in response to the customer placing anorder may include information identifying the customer and one or moreservices offered by the cloud infrastructure system 702 that thecustomer intends to subscribe to.

After an order has been placed by the customer, the order information isreceived via the cloud UIs, 712, 714 and/or 716.

At operation 736, the order is stored in order database 718. Orderdatabase 718 can be one of several databases operated by cloudinfrastructure system 718 and operated in conjunction with other systemelements.

At operation 738, the order information is forwarded to an ordermanagement module 720. In some instances, order management module 720may be configured to perform billing and accounting functions related tothe order, such as verifying the order, and upon verification, bookingthe order.

At operation 740, information regarding the order is communicated to anorder orchestration module 722. Order orchestration module 722 mayutilize the order information to orchestrate the provisioning ofservices and resources for the order placed by the customer. In someinstances, order orchestration module 722 may orchestrate theprovisioning of resources to support the subscribed services using theservices of order provisioning module 724.

In certain embodiments, order orchestration module 722 enables themanagement of business processes associated with each order and appliesbusiness logic to determine whether an order should proceed toprovisioning. At operation 742, upon receiving an order for a newsubscription, order orchestration module 722 sends a request to orderprovisioning module 724 to allocate resources and configure thoseresources needed to fulfill the subscription order. Order provisioningmodule 724 enables the allocation of resources for the services orderedby the customer. Order provisioning module 724 provides a level ofabstraction between the cloud services provided by cloud infrastructuresystem 700 and the physical implementation layer that is used toprovision the resources for providing the requested services. Orderorchestration module 722 may thus be isolated from implementationdetails, such as whether or not services and resources are actuallyprovisioned on the fly or pre-provisioned and only allocated/assignedupon request.

At operation 744, once the services and resources are provisioned, anotification of the provided service may be sent to customers on clientdevices 704, 706 and/or 708 by order provisioning module 724 of cloudinfrastructure system 702.

At operation 746, the customer's subscription order may be managed andtracked by an order management and monitoring module 726. In someinstances, order management and monitoring module 726 may be configuredto collect usage statistics for the services in the subscription order,such as the amount of storage used, the amount data transferred, thenumber of users, and the amount of system up time and system down time.

In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 700 may include anidentity management module 728. Identity management module 728 may beconfigured to provide identity services, such as access management andauthorization services in cloud infrastructure system 700. In someembodiments, identity management module 728 may control informationabout customers who wish to utilize the services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 702. Such information can include information thatauthenticates the identities of such customers and information thatdescribes which actions those customers are authorized to performrelative to various system resources (e.g., files, directories,applications, communication ports, memory segments, etc.). Identitymanagement module 728 may also include the management of descriptiveinformation about each customer and about how and by whom thatdescriptive information can be accessed and modified.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary computer system 800, in which variousembodiments of the present invention may be implemented. The system 800may be used to implement any of the computer systems described above. Asshown in the figure, computer system 800 includes a processing unit 804that communicates with a number of peripheral subsystems via a bussubsystem 802. These peripheral subsystems may include a processingacceleration unit 806, an I/O subsystem 808, a storage subsystem 818 anda communications subsystem 824. Storage subsystem 818 includes tangiblecomputer-readable storage media 822 and a system memory 810.

Bus subsystem 802 provides a mechanism for letting the variouscomponents and subsystems of computer system 800 communicate with eachother as intended. Although bus subsystem 802 is shown schematically asa single bus, alternative embodiments of the bus subsystem may utilizemultiple buses. Bus subsystem 802 may be any of several types of busstructures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. Forexample, such architectures may include an Industry StandardArchitecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, EnhancedISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) localbus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, which can beimplemented as a Mezzanine bus manufactured to the IEEE P1386.1standard.

Processing unit 804, which can be implemented as one or more integratedcircuits (e.g., a conventional microprocessor or microcontroller),controls the operation of computer system 800. One or more processorsmay be included in processing unit 804. These processors may includesingle core or multicore processors. In certain embodiments, processingunit 804 may be implemented as one or more independent processing units832 and/or 834 with single or multicore processors included in eachprocessing unit. In other embodiments, processing unit 804 may also beimplemented as a quad-core processing unit formed by integrating twodual-core processors into a single chip.

In various embodiments, processing unit 804 can execute a variety ofprograms in response to program code and can maintain multipleconcurrently executing programs or processes. At any given time, some orall of the program code to be executed can be resident in processor(s)804 and/or in storage subsystem 818. Through suitable programming,processor(s) 804 can provide various functionalities described above.Computer system 800 may additionally include a processing accelerationunit 806, which can include a digital signal processor (DSP), aspecial-purpose processor, and/or the like.

I/O subsystem 808 may include user interface input devices and userinterface output devices. User interface input devices may include akeyboard, pointing devices such as a mouse or trackball, a touchpad ortouch screen incorporated into a display, a scroll wheel, a click wheel,a dial, a button, a switch, a keypad, audio input devices with voicecommand recognition systems, microphones, and other types of inputdevices. User interface input devices may include, for example, motionsensing and/or gesture recognition devices such as the Microsoft Kinect®motion sensor that enables users to control and interact with an inputdevice, such as the Microsoft Xbox® 360 game controller, through anatural user interface using gestures and spoken commands. Userinterface input devices may also include eye gesture recognition devicessuch as the Google Glass® blink detector that detects eye activity(e.g., ‘blinking’ while taking pictures and/or making a menu selection)from users and transforms the eye gestures as input into an input device(e.g., Google Glass®). Additionally, user interface input devices mayinclude voice recognition sensing devices that enable users to interactwith voice recognition systems (e.g., Siri® navigator), through voicecommands.

User interface input devices may also include, without limitation, threedimensional (3D) mice, joysticks or pointing sticks, gamepads andgraphic tablets, and audio/visual devices such as speakers, digitalcameras, digital camcorders, portable media players, webcams, imagescanners, fingerprint scanners, barcode reader 3D scanners, 3D printers,laser rangefinders, and eye gaze tracking devices. Additionally, userinterface input devices may include, for example, medical imaging inputdevices such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging,position emission tomography, medical ultrasonography devices. Userinterface input devices may also include, for example, audio inputdevices such as MIDI keyboards, digital musical instruments and thelike.

User interface output devices may include a display subsystem, indicatorlights, or non-visual displays such as audio output devices, etc. Thedisplay subsystem may be a cathode ray tube (CRT), a flat-panel device,such as that using a liquid crystal display (LCD) or plasma display, aprojection device, a touch screen, and the like. In general, use of theterm “output device” is intended to include all possible types ofdevices and mechanisms for outputting information from computer system800 to a user or other computer. For example, user interface outputdevices may include, without limitation, a variety of display devicesthat visually convey text, graphics and audio/video information such asmonitors, printers, speakers, headphones, automotive navigation systems,plotters, voice output devices, and modems.

Computer system 800 may comprise a storage subsystem 818 that comprisessoftware elements, shown as being currently located within a systemmemory 810. System memory 810 may store program instructions that areloadable and executable on processing unit 804, as well as datagenerated during the execution of these programs.

Depending on the configuration and type of computer system 800, systemmemory 810 may be volatile (such as random access memory (RAM)) and/ornon-volatile (such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, etc.). TheRAM typically contains data and/or program modules that are immediatelyaccessible to and/or presently being operated and executed by processingunit 804. In some implementations, system memory 810 may includemultiple different types of memory, such as static random access memory(SRAM) or dynamic random access memory (DRAM). In some implementations,a basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basic routines thathelp to transfer information between elements within computer system800, such as during start-up, may typically be stored in the ROM. By wayof example, and not limitation, system memory 810 also illustratesapplication programs 812, which may include client applications, Webbrowsers, mid-tier applications, relational database management systems(RDBMS), etc., program data 814, and an operating system 816. By way ofexample, operating system 816 may include various versions of MicrosoftWindows®, Apple Macintosh®, and/or Linux operating systems, a variety ofcommercially-available UNIX® or UNIX-like operating systems (includingwithout limitation the variety of GNU/Linux operating systems, theGoogle Chrome® OS, and the like) and/or mobile operating systems such asiOS, Windows® Phone, Android® OS, BlackBerry® 10 OS, and Palm® OSoperating systems.

Storage subsystem 818 may also provide a tangible computer-readablestorage medium for storing the basic programming and data constructsthat provide the functionality of some embodiments. Software (programs,code modules, instructions) that when executed by a processor providethe functionality described above may be stored in storage subsystem818. These software modules or instructions may be executed byprocessing unit 804. Storage subsystem 818 may also provide a repositoryfor storing data used in accordance with the present invention.

Storage subsystem 800 may also include a computer-readable storage mediareader 820 that can further be connected to computer-readable storagemedia 822. Together and, optionally, in combination with system memory810, computer-readable storage media 822 may comprehensively representremote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices plus storagemedia for temporarily and/or more permanently containing, storing,transmitting, and retrieving computer-readable information.

Computer-readable storage media 822 containing code, or portions ofcode, can also include any appropriate media known or used in the art,including storage media and communication media, such as but not limitedto, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable mediaimplemented in any method or technology for storage and/or transmissionof information. This can include tangible, non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media such as RAM, ROM, electronicallyerasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory or other memorytechnology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD), or other opticalstorage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or other tangible computer readablemedia. When specified, this can also include nontangible, transitorycomputer-readable media, such as data signals, data transmissions, orany other medium which can be used to transmit the desired informationand which can be accessed by computing system 800.

By way of example, computer-readable storage media 822 may include ahard disk drive that reads from or writes to non-removable, nonvolatilemagnetic media, a magnetic disk drive that reads from or writes to aremovable, nonvolatile magnetic disk, and an optical disk drive thatreads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile optical disk such as aCD ROM, DVD, and Blu-Ray® disk, or other optical media.Computer-readable storage media 822 may include, but is not limited to,Zip® drives, flash memory cards, universal serial bus (USB) flashdrives, secure digital (SD) cards, DVD disks, digital video tape, andthe like. Computer-readable storage media 822 may also include,solid-state drives (SSD) based on non-volatile memory such asflash-memory based SSDs, enterprise flash drives, solid state ROM, andthe like, SSDs based on volatile memory such as solid state RAM, dynamicRAM, static RAM, DRAM-based SSDs, magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) SSDs, andhybrid SSDs that use a combination of DRAM and flash memory based SSDs.The disk drives and their associated computer-readable media may providenon-volatile storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules, and other data for computer system 800.

Communications subsystem 824 provides an interface to other computersystems and networks. Communications subsystem 824 serves as aninterface for receiving data from and transmitting data to other systemsfrom computer system 800. For example, communications subsystem 824 mayenable computer system 800 to connect to one or more devices via theInternet. In some embodiments communications subsystem 824 can includeradio frequency (RF) transceiver components for accessing wireless voiceand/or data networks (e.g., using cellular telephone technology,advanced data network technology, such as 3G, 4G or EDGE (enhanced datarates for global evolution), WiFi (IEEE 802.11 family standards, orother mobile communication technologies, or any combination thereof),global positioning system (GPS) receiver components, and/or othercomponents. In some embodiments communications subsystem 824 can providewired network connectivity (e.g., Ethernet) in addition to or instead ofa wireless interface.

In some embodiments, communications subsystem 824 may also receive inputcommunication in the form of structured and/or unstructured data feeds826, event streams 828, event updates 830, and the like on behalf of oneor more users who may use computer system 800.

By way of example, communications subsystem 824 may be configured toreceive data feeds 826 in real-time from users of social media networksand/or other communication services such as Twitter® feeds, Facebook®updates, web feeds such as Rich. Site Summary (RSS) feeds, and/orreal-time updates from one or more third party information sources.

Additionally, communications subsystem 824 may also be configured toreceive data in the form of continuous data streams, which may includeevent streams 828 of real-time events and/or event updates 830, that maybe continuous or unbounded in nature with no explicit end. Examples ofapplications that generate continuous data may include, for example,sensor data applications, financial tickers, network performancemeasuring tools (e.g. network monitoring and traffic managementapplications), clickstream analysis tools, automobile trafficmonitoring, and the like.

Communications subsystem 824 may also be configured to output thestructured and/or unstructured data feeds 826, event streams 828, eventupdates 830, and the like to one or more databases that may be incommunication with one or more streaming data source computers coupledto computer system 800.

Computer system 800 can be one of various types, including a handheldportable device (e.g., an iPhone® cellular phone, an iPad® computingtablet, a PDA), a wearable device (e.g., a Google Glass® head mounteddisplay), a PC, a workstation, a mainframe, a kiosk, a server rack, orany other data processing system.

Due to the ever-changing nature of computers and networks, thedescription of computer system 800 depicted in the figure is intendedonly as a specific example. Many other configurations having more orfewer components than the system depicted in the figure are possible.For example, customized hardware might also be used and/or particularelements might be implemented in hardware, firmware, software (includingapplets), or a combination. Further, connection to other computingdevices, such as network input/output devices, may be employed. Based onthe disclosure and teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skillin the art will appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement thevarious embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an agent 900 in accordance with anembodiment. The blocks of the agent 900 may be implemented by hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software to carry out theprinciples of aspects of the invention. It is understood by thoseskilled in the art that the blocks described in the figure may becombined or separated into sub-blocks to implement the principles of theinvention as described above. For example, the first receiving unit 903and the second receiving unit 906 can be integrated into one receivingunit. Therefore, the description herein may support any possiblecombination or separation or further definition of the functional blocksdescribed herein.

As shown, the agent 900 for facilitating offsite access to an enterprisecomputer network comprises an initiating unit 901, an upgrading unit902, a first receiving unit 903, a reformatting unit 904, a firstsending unit 905, a second receiving unit 906, a creating unit 907, anda second sending unit 908. The initiating unit 901 can initiate ahypertext transport protocol (HTTP) connection with a cloud-basedgateway outside of a firewall on an enterprise network. The agentexecutes on a computer behind the firewall. The upgrading unit 902 canupgrade the HTTP connection to a WebSocket protocol connection. Thefirst receiving unit 903 can receive, over the WebSocket protocolconnection, a request for data from the gateway. The reformatting unit904 can reformat the request into an HTTP request. The first sendingunit 905 can send the HTTP request to a server (not shown) on theenterprise network. The second receiving unit 906 can receive a responseto the HTTP request from the server. The creating unit 907 can create aWebSocket response based on the response from the server. The secondsending unit 908 can send, over the WebSocket protocol connection to thegateway, the WebSocket response.

In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the upgrading ofthe HTTP connection to the WebSocket protocol connection can beautomatically triggered by the initiating of the HTTP connection.

In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the agent 900 canfurther comprise a packaging unit 909. The packaging unit 909 canpackage the response from the server into a string, binary object, orArrayBuffer of the WebSocket response before sending the WebSocketresponse.

In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the server can bea local web server.

In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the server can berunning an enterprise application.

In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the WebSocketconnection can be a secure WebSocket connection.

In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the agent 900 canfurther comprise a checking unit 910, a downloading unit 911, and aninstalling unit 912. The checking unit 910 can check, with thecloud-based gateway, for an update of agent software. The downloadingunit 911 can download a software update. The installing unit 912 caninstall the downloaded software update.

In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the agent 900 canfurther comprise a determining unit 913. The determining unit 913 candetermine a time window acceptable or unacceptable for the softwareupdate. The checking, downloading, or installing can be performed basedon the determined time window.

In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the agent 900 canfurther comprise a back-rolling unit 914. The back-rolling unit 914 canroll back the installation of the downloaded software update to aprevious version of the agent software.

FIG. 10 is an example flowchart illustrating a process in a cloud-basedgateway in accordance with an embodiment. This process can be automatedin a computer or other machine. The process can be coded in software,firmware, or hard coded as machine-readable instructions and run througha processor that can implement the instructions. In operation 1001, arequest from a mobile is received at a cloud-based gateway. In operation1002, the request from the mobile device is reformatted, at the gateway,into a request for data over the WebSocket protocol. In operation 1003,the request for data is sent from the gateway to an agent over aWebSocket protocol connection. In operation 1004, a WebSocket responseis received from the agent the request at the gateway. In operation1005, a cloud-enabled response is created at the gateway from theWebSocket response from the agent. In operation 1006, the cloud-enabledresponse is sent to the mobile device.

In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the WebSocketprotocol connection can be a secure WebSocket protocol connection.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a cloud-based gateway 1100 in accordancewith an embodiment. As shown in the figure, the cloud-based gateway 1100comprises a first receiving unit 1101, a reformatting unit 1102, a firstsending unit 1103, a second receiving unit 1104, a creating unit 1105,and a second sending unit 1106. The first receiving unit 1101 canreceive a request from a mobile device. The reformatting unit 1102 canreformat the request from the mobile device into a request for data overa WebSocket protocol. The first sending unit 1103 can send the requestfor data to an agent over a WebSocket protocol connection. The secondreceiving unit 1104 can receive a WebSocket response from the agent. Thecreating unit 1105 can create a cloud-enabled response from theWebSocket response from the agent. The second sending unit 1106 can sendthe cloud-enabled response to the mobile device.

In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the WebSocketprotocol connection can be a secure WebSocket protocol connection.

In the foregoing specification, aspects of the invention are describedwith reference to specific embodiments thereof, but those skilled in theart will recognize that the invention is not limited thereto. Variousfeatures and aspects of the above-described invention may be usedindividually or jointly. Further, embodiments can be utilized in anynumber of environments and applications beyond those described hereinwithout departing from the broader spirit and scope of thespecification. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to beregarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.

The following items include apparatuses.

Item 1. An agent (900) for facilitating offsite access to an enterprisecomputer network, the agent comprising:

-   -   an initiating unit (901) configured for initiating a hypertext        transport protocol (HTTP) connection with a cloud-based gateway        outside of a firewall on an enterprise network, the agent        executing on a computer behind the firewall;    -   an upgrading unit (902) configured for upgrading the HTTP        connection to a WebSocket protocol connection;    -   a first receiving unit (903) configured for receiving, over the        WebSocket protocol connection, a request for data from the        gateway;    -   a reformatting unit (904) configured for reformatting the        request into an HTTP request;    -   a first sending unit (905) configured for sending the HTTP        request to a server on the enterprise network;    -   a second receiving unit (906) configured for receiving a        response to the HTTP request from the server;    -   a creating unit (907) configured for creating a WebSocket        response based on the response from the server; and    -   a second sending unit (908) configured for sending, over the        WebSocket protocol connection to the gateway, the WebSocket        response.

Item 2. The agent of item 1 wherein the upgrading of the HTTP connectionto the WebSocket protocol connection is automatically triggered by theinitiating of the HTTP connection.

Item 3. The agent of any preceding item further comprising:

-   -   a packaging unit (909) configured for packaging the response        from the server into a string, binary object, or ArrayBuffer of        the WebSocket response before sending the WebSocket response.

Item 4. The agent of any preceding item wherein the server is a localweb server.

Item 5. The agent of any preceding item wherein the server is running anenterprise application.

Item 6. The agent of any preceding item wherein the WebSocket protocolconnection is a secure WebSocket protocol connection.

Item 7. The agent of any preceding item further comprising:

-   -   a checking unit (910) configured for checking, with the        cloud-based gateway, for an update of agent software;    -   a downloading unit (911) configured for downloading a software        update; and    -   an installing unit (912) configured for installing the        downloaded software update.

Item 8. The agent of item 7 further comprising:

-   -   a determining unit (913) configured for determining a time        window acceptable or unacceptable for the software update; and    -   the checking, downloading, or installing are performed based on        the determined time window.

Item 9. The agent of item 7 or 8 further comprising:

-   -   a back-rolling unit (914) configured for rolling back the        installation of the downloaded software update to a previous        version of the agent software.

Item 10. A method of facilitating offsite access to an enterprisecomputer network, the method comprising:

-   -   receiving, at a cloud-based gateway, a request from a mobile        device;    -   reformatting, at the gateway, the request from the mobile device        into a request for data over a WebSocket protocol;    -   sending, from the gateway, the request for data to an agent over        a WebSocket protocol connection;    -   receiving, at the gateway, a WebSocket response from the agent;    -   creating, at the gateway, a cloud-enabled response from the        WebSocket response from the agent; and    -   sending the cloud-enabled response to the mobile device.

Item 11. The method of item 10, wherein the WebSocket protocolconnection is a secure WebSocket protocol connection.

Item 12. A cloud-based gateway, comprising:

-   -   a first receiving unit, configured for receiving a request from        a mobile device;    -   a reformatting unit, configured for reformatting the request        from the mobile device into a request for data over a WebSocket        protocol;    -   a first sending unit, configured for sending the request for        data to an agent over a WebSocket protocol connection;    -   a second receiving unit, configured for receiving a WebSocket        response from the agent;    -   a creating unit, configured for creating a cloud-enabled        response from the WebSocket response from the agent; and    -   a second sending unit, configured for sending the cloud-enabled        response to the mobile device.

Item 13. The cloud-based gateway of item 12, wherein the WebSocketprotocol connection is a secure WebSocket protocol connection.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of facilitating offsite access to anenterprise computer network, the method comprising: initiating, by anagent executing on a computer behind a firewall on an enterprisenetwork, a hypertext transport protocol (HTTP) connection with acloud-based gateway outside of the firewall; responsive to initiatingthe HTTP connection, automatically upgrading the HTTP connection withthe cloud-based gateway to a WebSocket protocol connection; receiving,from the cloud-based gateway, by the agent, over the WebSocket protocolconnection, a first request for data stored on a server behind thefirewall on the enterprise network, wherein the first request has aWebSocket format compliant for the WebSocket protocol connection;translating, by the agent, the first request received from thecloud-based gateway into a second request having an HTTP format forcommunication with the server on the enterprise network, whereintranslating includes converting the WebSocket format of the firstrequest to the HTTP format for the second request for communication withthe server; sending, from the agent, the second request to the server onthe enterprise network; receiving, by the agent, a first response to thesecond request from the server, the first response having the HTTPformat; creating, by the agent, a second response having the WebSocketformat, wherein the second response is created based on converting thefirst response from the HTTP format to the WebSocket format; andsending, by the agent, over the WebSocket protocol connection, to thecloud-based gateway, the second response.
 2. The method of claim 1further comprising: receiving, at the cloud-based gateway, a thirdrequest from a mobile device; reformatting, at the cloud-based gateway,the third request from the mobile device into the first request for dataover the WebSocket protocol connection; receiving, at the cloud-basedgateway, the second response from the agent; creating, at thecloud-based gateway, a third response from the second response from theagent; and sending the third response to the mobile device.
 3. Themethod of claim 1 further comprising: packaging, by the agent, the firstresponse from the server into a string, a binary object, or anArrayBuffer of the second response before sending the second response.4. The method of claim 1 wherein the server is a local web server. 5.The method of claim 1 wherein the server is running an enterpriseapplication.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the WebSocket protocolconnection is a secure WebSocket protocol connection.
 7. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: checking, by the agent with the cloud-basedgateway, for an update of an agent software; downloading, to the agent,a software update; and installing, at the agent, the downloaded softwareupdate.
 8. The method of claim 7 further comprising: determining a timewindow acceptable or unacceptable for the software update; andperforming the checking, downloading, or installing based on thedetermined time window.
 9. The method of claim 7 further comprising:rolling back the installing of the downloaded software update to aprevious version of the agent software.
 10. A machine-readablenon-transitory medium embodying information indicative of instructionsfor causing one or more machines to perform operations comprising:initiating, by an agent executing on a computer behind a firewall on anenterprise network, a hypertext transport protocol (HTTP) connectionwith a cloud-based gateway outside of the firewall; responsive toinitiating the HTTP connection, automatically upgrading the HTTPconnection with the cloud-based gateway to a WebSocket protocolconnection; receiving, from the cloud-based gateway, by the agent, overthe WebSocket protocol connection, a first request for data stored on aserver behind the firewall on the enterprise network, wherein the firstrequest has a WebSocket format compliant for the WebSocket protocolconnection; translating, by the agent, the first request received fromthe cloud-based gateway into a second request having an HTTP format forcommunication with the server on the enterprise network, whereintranslating includes converting the WebSocket format of the firstrequest to the HTTP format for the second request for communication withthe server; sending, from the agent, the second request to the server onthe enterprise network; receiving, by the agent, a first response to thesecond request from the server, the first response having the HTTPformat; creating, by the agent, a second response having the WebSocketformat, wherein the second response is created based on converting thefirst response from the HTTP format to the WebSocket format; andsending, by the agent, over the WebSocket protocol connection, to thecloud-based gateway, the second response.
 11. The machine-readablenon-transitory medium of claim 10 wherein the operations furthercomprise: receiving, at the cloud-based gateway, a third request from amobile device; reformatting, at the cloud-based gateway, the thirdrequest from the mobile device into the first request for data over theWebSocket protocol connection; receiving, at the cloud-based gateway,the second response from the agent; creating, at the cloud-basedgateway, a third response from the second response from the agent; andsending the third response to the mobile device.
 12. Themachine-readable non-transitory medium of claim 10 wherein theoperations further comprise: checking, by the agent with the cloud-basedgateway, for an update of an agent software; downloading, to the agent,a software update; and installing, at the agent, the downloaded softwareupdate.
 13. The machine-readable non-transitory medium of claim 12wherein the operations further comprise: determining a time windowacceptable or unacceptable for the software update; and performing thechecking, downloading, or installing based on the determined timewindow.
 14. A system for facilitating offsite access to an enterprisecomputer network, the system comprising: at least one processor; and amemory operatively coupled with the at least one processor, the at leastone processor executing instructions from the memory for: initiating, byan agent executing on a computer behind a firewall on an enterprisenetwork, a hypertext transport protocol (HTTP) connection with acloud-based gateway outside of the firewall; responsive to initiatingthe HTTP connection, automatically upgrading the HTTP connection withthe cloud-based gateway to a WebSocket protocol connection; receiving,from the cloud-based gateway, by the agent, over the WebSocket protocolconnection, a first request for data stored on a server behind thefirewall on the enterprise network, wherein the first request has aWebSocket format compliant for the WebSocket protocol connection;translating, by the agent, the first request received from thecloud-based gateway into a second request having an HTTP format forcommunication with the server on the enterprise network, whereintranslating includes converting the WebSocket format of the firstrequest to the HTTP format for the second request for communication withthe server; sending, from the agent, the second request to the server onthe enterprise network; receiving, by the agent, a first response to thesecond request from the server, the first response having the HTTPformat; creating, by the agent, a second response having the WebSocketformat, wherein the second response is created based on converting thefirst response from the HTTP format to the WebSocket format; andsending, by the agent, over the WebSocket protocol connection, to thecloud-based gateway, the second response.
 15. The system of claim 14wherein the instructions from the memory further comprise: receiving, atthe cloud-based gateway, a third request from a mobile device;reformatting, at the cloud-based gateway, the third request from themobile device into the first request for data over the WebSocketprotocol connection; receiving, at the cloud-based gateway, the secondresponse from the agent; creating, at the cloud-based gateway, a thirdresponse from the second response from the agent; and sending the thirdresponse to the mobile device.
 16. The system of claim 14 wherein theserver is a local web server.
 17. The system of claim 14 wherein theserver is running an enterprise application.